Process and machine for improving wool tops



April 6, 1954 G. BULLARD 2,674,011

PROCESS AND MACHINE FOR IMPROVING WOOL TOPS med aan. 12. 1952 y sshams-sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

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PRocEss AND MACHINE FOR IMPRovING woor. Tops Filed Jan. 12. 1952 .6Sheets-Sheet 3 Ew. 3 INVENTOR.

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PROCESS AND MACHINE FOR IMPROVING WOOL TOPS Filed Jan. 12,' 1952 6Sheets-Sheet 5 April 6, 1954 L. G. BULLARD PROCESS AND MACHINE FORIMPROVING WOOL TOPS Filed Jan. 12, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Fig. 7 8"MAXIMUM STAPLE LENGTH AT 98% AT 85% AT 50% ATZOZ, "/UNDER [V2 originalTop 5v; 4V; 5V; 2 '/2 7'4 Processed Top 257/; 39; 257; I 7i; 734 7" 6"Original Top Coef. ofv Varioion 36.76 4" Processed Top)`\ coef. of vor.28.85 2n M "The o III IOO 90% 8O 70% 60% 50 40 "/o 30 2O IO O INVENTOR.

#d www@ Patented Apr. 6L 1954 PROCESS AND MACHINE FOR IMPROVING WOOLTOPS Lyman G. Bullard, Norton, Mass., assignor to l Talbot Wool CombingCo., Division of Winslow Bros. & Smith Co., Norton, Mass., a corporationof Massachusetts Application January 12, 1952, Serial No. 266,127 4Claims. (Cl. 19-65 This invention comprises an improved process andapparatus for increasing the proportion of uniform short staple fibersin a wool top sliver. The process is characterized by the steps ofpassing the sliver as it comes from the combing process continuouslythrough spaced sets of feed rolls driven at different speeds andsubjected at both ends of both sets to the same uid pressure. The novelapparatus for carrying out this process includes fluid operatedmechanism for imparting uniform or identical pressure to all the fourbearings of the pressure or feed rolls employed.

With modern abbreviated spinning systems the requirements of Wool topshave changed from those formerly deman-ded, and more uniform shortstaple lengths have become very important for good spinning. Tops can bemade from short fine wools which can be spun satisfactorily by thesenewly adopted systems but only by very careful buying and sorting of thetops to be used. Even though such tops are made as carefully as possibleby such procedure, they are still capable of being greatly improved asto uniformity of staple length by the process herein disclosed.Moreover, it is often advantageous both from the standpoint of cost andbecause of the greater efflciency in the combing process to buy longerfiber wools. These are in many cases too long to be satisfactory inpresent spinning systems. The process and apparatus herein disclosedpermit slivers of these long liber wools to be reduced by a singlepassage of the rolls to any predetermined required staple length; forexample, to an average staple length of two inches or less. This cannotbe accomplished by sorting since the bulk of the wool is long fiber. Ifsuch a Wool top is out, the cutting will not only reduce the long fibersbut will also shorten many of the other bers which are arranged atrandom throughout the sliver and the resulting staple diagram indicatesa tremendous and objectionable amount of short ber. Even if the long bersliver were combed, the resulting sliver would still contain much moreshort fibers than that produced in accordance with the method of thisinvention and the sliver would be poor in uniformity of staple length asindicated by the coefficient of variation. Moreover, the combing stepcan only be effected at high cost particularly because of the incidentalloss of short fibers as noil.

Further, it is often desirable from a cost standpoint as well as to meetgoverment and customer specifications to use a 10W grade of wool. Sinceit is generally true that the lower the grade the longer the woolfibers. it is very difficult to 'section on the une 3-3 of Fig, 2.

make low grade tops short enough orY uniform enough for the demands forpresent spinning systems. Cutting the top produces the sameobjectionable proportion of short fibers above mentioned. Here again bythe process and apparatus of this invention it is possible to reduce thelongest wools to a suitable length with a good coefcient of variationand in a condition highly desirable for` spinning yby any system. Evenin a long-draft system like the Bradford which can handle long wools,the process of this invention can be employed effectively to shorten thesmall percentage of excessively long fibers and thus eliminate cocklingof the yarn.

The advantages of the novel process herein disclosed may be summarizedas follows:

l. Any given wool top can be made more suitable for the spinner byelimination of the longest fibers which initially make up a smallpercentage of the top.

2. Any top can be substantially shortened throughout to conform tocustomers requirements with a marked improvem-ent in the coefficient ofvariation and this reduction can be controlled within very close limitsat the fty per cent mark.

3. Long fine Wools can be utilized and treated in accordance with thisinvention for customers requiring short wools, often at a veryappreciable price advantage.

4. Lower grade wools not available in short lengths can be utilized andtransformed to satisfactory staple sliver.

5. A11 the good results of careful buying and sorting can be achieved atsubstantially less expense by the process of this invention.

6. Cutting as a means of reducing staple length will definitely notproduce a satisfactory top for many uses, and in any case the sliverafter cutting must be recarded and often recombed to put it in usefulcondition, whereas the process of this invention delivers an improvedsliver ready for spinning.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will bebest understood and appreciated from the following description of apreferred machine by Which the process may be carried out as shown inthe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine with certain parts broken away,

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view in rear elevation,

Fig. 3 is a view partly in elevation and partly in.

Fig. 4 is a view in elevation of the machine as seen from the rightside,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in elevation of the machine as seen fromthe left side,

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the fluid pressure connections, and

Fig. 7 is a top analysis diagram.

The illustrated machine comprises essentially two sets of feed rollsthrough which the sliver is passed, driven at different rates of speedand maintained with their bearings under uniform and identical uidpressure.

The machine as organized includes a base plate I upon which is movablysupported a pair of upright side frames I I and I2 and a pair of xedupright side frames I3 and I4. One set of feed rolls is journaled ineach pair of these side frames and the distance between the two sets offeed rolls is called the ratch of the machine and is adjustable toaccommodate differences in the sliver to be treated. For example, themachine as herein shown is set for a l1/2 ratch.

The main shaft I5 of the machine is journaled atone end in the lower boxI6 in the fixed side frame I3 and at the other in the lower box I1 inthe corresponding fixed side frame I4. The shaft carries at itsleft-hand end, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a gear I8 and this is driventhrough a gear vI9 from the motor or other source of power. The shaft I5carries a iluted metal roll 20 against the lower side of which ispressed a felt wiper 2|. The wiper is supported upon a pair ofcompression springs 22 as best shown in Figs. 2 ands 3.

An upper shaft 23 is journaled at one end in the upper box 24 in theside frame I4 and the upper box 25 in the side frame I3. This shaftcarries a rubber pressure roll 26 which grips the'sliver against thelower roll 20 and rotates with it as the sliver is positively fedrearwardly between the two rolls. The two upper boxes 24 and 25 aremaintained at all times under a constant fluid pressure. To this end avertical rod 21 of adjustable length is arranged to bear upon the upperface of the box 25. At its upper end the rod 21 engages a flexiblediaphragm, not shown, within ya cylindrical pressure chamber 28supported by arms 23 from the side frame I3. A corresponding pressurechamber 30 is supported by arms 3| above the side frame I4 and acorresponding adjustable rod 32 is similarly maintained under uniformfluid pressure against the upper box 24. Thus both ends of the shaft 23are maintained under constant fluid pressure and this is made alwaysuniform by connections which willbe presently described.

The adjustable side frame II is provided with a lower box 33 in which isjournaled one end of the shaft 34 which carries a fluted metal roll 35similar in all respects to the roll 20 above described. A rotary brush36 is arranged to run in contact with the lower surface of the roll 35to keep it clean from any accumulation of lint. The shaft 34 isjournaled at its other end in the lower box 31 in the side frame I2.Above this box is located the upper box 38 in whichr is journaled oneend of the shaft 39 which carries a rubber pressure roll 48 similar tothe roll 28 already described. Above the box 38 is an adjustable rod 4Ioperated by a flexible diaphragm in the pressure cylinder 42 supportedby arms 43 above the side frame. The other end of the shaft 39 isjournaled in the upper box 44 of the side frame II and maintained underpressure through a rod 45 which enters at its upper end the cylindricalpressure chamber 46 supported by arms 41 above the side frame.

The main shaft I5 carries at its right end, as shown in Figs. l and 2, apinion 58 which meshes with a large gear 5I carried by a shortcountershaft 52 journaled in a portion of the machine frame. The shaft52 carries a small gear 53 meshing with a large gear 54 on the end ofthe shaft 34. A swing piece 55 is mounted to rock about the axis of theshaft 52 and this swing piece has a slotted connection with the sideframe I2. The slot as shown in Fig. 5 is concentric with the axis of theshaft 52 and a clamping nut 56 is provided for clamping the swing pieceany adjusted position permitted by the length of the slot. Thisconstruction permits relative adjusting movement of the side frame I2while maintaining an effective driving train between the main fshaft I5in the stationary side frames and theshaft 34 which is journaled in theadjustable side frames. The'maximum adjustment of the ratch required inthe use of the machine is in the order of 1/2 to 1", and this is readilypermitted by the swing plate. It will be understood that the side framesII and I2 may be loosened from the base plate I0 for purposes ofadjustment and then clamped securely in the adjusted operating position.

The four pressure chambers 28, 30, 42 and 48 are connected by a systemof piping best shown in Fig. 6. This comprises a supply pipe 51 whichleads from an air compressor or accumulator, not shown, into a positionabove the pressure chambers and into communication with the parallelbranches 58 which extend transversely to the pressure chambers 28 and46. A downwardly extending pipe 58 is shown as leading from one of thesebranches to the pressure chamber -42 and a similar vertical pipe leadsfrom one of the branches 58 to the pressure chamber 48. A flexiblesection 49 is interposed between the two branches 58 to permitadjustment of the ratch as above explained. Through this system ofpiping constant and identical fluid pressure is maintained in all fourpressure chambers and therefore on both ends of the shafts 23 and 39 ofthe upper pressure rolls of each set. The diaphragms may be of anysuitable area for the work in hand, for example, 10 square inches, andthus may be utilized to impart a pressure of 40 to l80 lbs., forexample, on each of the upper bearing boxes.

The employment of compressed air or other uid is an essential feature ofthe present invention and lcontributes in an unexpected andunpredictable way to the important results vof the present invention. Ithas been found impractical to achieve these results by employing springsinstead of the fluid pressure mechanism above described. One reason forthis may be that the pressure of a spring is bound to vary with theposition thereof or with the lengthv of the spring under effectivecompression. This is not the case, however, with the fluid pressuremechanism herein shown, the pressure `uponthe journal boxes remainingconstant regardless of any displacement thereof during the operation ofthe machine. Under these novel conditions a more uniform break of thefibers is achieved than has been heretofore possible and a much moreuniform control of results is brought about. In addition, the rubberrolls last many times longer when Voperated. under 'air pressure than dospring loaded rubber rolls. It has been found in 'actual practice thatvrubber rolls run- 5 ning under uid pressure in the machine'hereindisclosed will run as much as one hundred times longer than springloaded rolls.

As herein shown, a transverse supporting bar 6B extends between the sideframes I3 and i4 and a corresponding bar 6| extends between the sideframes Il and I2. A static eliminator 62 of conventional type issupportedfrom the bar 60 and connected through a flexible connector withthe bar 6| A detector plate 63 is yieldingly mounted on the bar B abovethe rubber roll 26 and a similar detector plate 64 is mounted on the bar6| above the rubber roll 4U. The plate 54 is engaged by a spring pressedplunger 65 and this is movable in a vertical path to make contact with aswitch terminal 6B mounted directly above it in case the roll 40 isdisplaced upwardly by a slub or other obstruction to more than apredetermined adjustable position. When contact is closed by lifting ofthe detector plate B4, the machine is automatically stopped. Thedetector plate BB is similarly provided with stopping mechanism of thesame type.

A guiding throat 6l is mounted upon the base plate in position to directthe sliver to the bite of the rolls 35 and 40. From these rolls thesliver passes directly to the rolls 20 and 26, and upon leaving them itis deected downwardly by a transverse guide bar 10 so that it will passover the surface of an idle roll 58 mounted in a trough 69 which maycontain water or any other liquid for dampening or treating the sliveras it leaves the machine.

As already suggested, the fluted roll 26 is driven at a substantiallygreater speed than the roll 35 which rst engages and feeds the sliver.ln practice this ratio may be approximately to l. This ratio is broughtabout by the reduction effected by the gear train shown in Fig. 5 and itmay be assumed for purposes of illustration that the ratch is set at41/2".

The result of subjecting a commercial wool top to the process hereindescribed is graphically illustrated in the top analysis graph of Fig.7. The graph is laid out in accordance with the Test for Fiber Length ofWool (D 519-49)" established by the American Society for TestingMaterials and set forth in its book entitled A. S. T. M. Standards onTextile Materials for 1950. The ordinate of the graph, divided into inchdivisions, indicates ber length, and the abscissa having divisions eachequivalent to represents the number of bers in the top of the variouslengths indicated. The coeicient of variation for the original and forthe processed top is calculated from the equation where X is the averagefiber length, and Alpha is the standard deviation,

all as explained in the article above identied. It will be seen that inthe present example the original top contains some fibers 61/2 long; 50%of its fibers are 3%" long; and its coefficient of variation is 36.76.On the other hand. the processed top, after a single passage of therolls, contains no fibers longer than Iill/2; 50% of its fibers are 2%"in length; and its coefficient of variation is 28.85. The improvement inthe top indicated by these gures is typical of that achieved by thepractice of my novel process and is of outstanding importance in theindustry. The reduction ln the coeicient of variation from 36.76 75 6.to 28.85 is of special signicance to the buyer of tops and characterizesa top of increased value to the spinner for which a premium price mayreadily be secured. On the other hand, a sample of the same original topwhen run through a carefully adjusted machine having spring controlledrolls was found to contain some fibers 51/2 long, a .much largerpercentage of short bers under 11/2" and to have a coefficient ofvariation of 33.87 which indicates the excessive number of long andshort bers present.

Adjustment of a machine with spring controlled rolls, even to get theunsatisfactory results above described for any length of time, requiressuch excessive pressure as to split the rubber rolls after a short run.Moreover, it has been found impossible to maintain such heavy pressureuniformly under conditions of commercial manufacture, so that in usingsuch machines inconsistent fiber breakage and yard-for-yard variation inthe weight and thickness of the sliver is encountered.

While a machine employing spring pressed rolls may be tuned up toperform satisfactorily for a short time, much more than that is requiredof a machine that is suitable for use in the wool industry wherecontinuous operation with predictable results and without constantsupervision is the essential requirement.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail anillustrative manner in which it may be practiced, I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A machine for improving slivers of wool bers, comprising two pairs ofside frames spaced apart a substantial ratch distance, journal boxeslocated one above another in each frame, forward and rearward feed rollsjournaled in said boxes, gear mechanism for driving said rolls in bothframes simultaneously at different speeds with the forward feed rollbeing driven at a greater rate of speed than that of the rearward feedroll, means for transmitting identical pressure to the feed rolls,journaled in said boxes including a iiuid pressure chamber carried byeach frame, means including a single fluid pressure source formaintaining constant uniform pressure in al1 of said chambers, and meansfor directly transmitting said pressure to the uppermost journal boxesof each side frame.

2. A machine for improving the staple length of wool fibers in acontinuous sliver, comprising side frames spaced apart a substantialratch distance and each containing a pair of feed rolls comprising aforward and a rearward pair of rolls, means for driving a roll of eachpair at different speeds with a roll of the forward pair of rolls movingat a higher rate of speed than a roll of the rearward pair of rolls, apressure chamber mounted upon and above each side frame, a diaphragm ineach chamber, pressure transmitting connections between each diaphragmand the feed rolls beneath it, and a fluid pressure including a singlefluid pressure source to al1 of said chambers for supplying iiuid underuniform pressure to all of said chambers above the diaphragms therein.

3. The process of increasing the proportion of uniform staple bers inwool top sliver, which is characterized by the step of making a singlecontinuous passage of the sliver through a forward set and a rearwardset of feed rolls spaced apart a substantial ratch distance which can bevaried to control the desired length of fibers in the top, driving theforward set of rolls at a speed in excess of that of the rearward set ofrolls and sub,

8 separateareaswherethe sliver is engaged by the rolls.

References Cited in the'le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date .2,315,813 Oettl et al Apr. 6, 1943 Y2,479,759 .Merchant Aug.23, 1949 2,547,485 Norcross Apr. 3, 1951 10 v2,624,077 Winslow Jan. ,6,1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 357,004 Italy Feb. V25, 193.8

